Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-07 Thread Tom Browder
I’m comforted by this friendly discussion about the old days versus the modern generation by fellow old folks of pre-PC days. Sort of like an afternoon gathering at the Elks or the VFW. Thank you all. Blessings. -Tom

Re: [OFFTOPIC] On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread tomas
On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 12:57:39PM -0500, John Hasler wrote: > tomas writes: > > See my other reply. My whole point is about making lives of curious > > users easier by sticking to the terminology they'll find should they > > dare (yes,please!) to open that door to the cellar. > > The people at

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread tomas
On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 08:25:20AM -0500, John Hasler wrote: > tomas writes: > > Small anecdote: there was an old Linux distro (ISTR it was SuSE) where > > something below /etc/init.d (or was it /etc/rc.d? It's a long while > > ago) was a symlink to the parent directory, creating an infinite > >

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread John Hasler
tomas writes: > Small anecdote: there was an old Linux distro (ISTR it was SuSE) where > something below /etc/init.d (or was it /etc/rc.d? It's a long while > ago) was a symlink to the parent directory, creating an infinite > hierarchy (or a circular reference, depending on how you squint). On

Re: [OFFTOPIC] On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread John Hasler
tomas writes: > See my other reply. My whole point is about making lives of curious > users easier by sticking to the terminology they'll find should they > dare (yes,please!) to open that door to the cellar. The people at Xerox PARC and SRI who came up with the desktop metaphor in the early

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread Curt
On 2023-11-06, Nicolas George wrote: > Loris Bennett (12023-11-06): >> I beg to differ. I think you are confusing the precise definition of >> something with the label used to refer to it. When the transistor was >> invented, so was a new word to describe it. When this particular >> concept of

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread Nicolas George
Loris Bennett (12023-11-06): > I beg to differ. I think you are confusing the precise definition of > something with the label used to refer to it. When the transistor was > invented, so was a new word to describe it. When this particular > concept of how to organise data on a computer, about

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-06 Thread Loris Bennett
Nicolas George writes: >> Surely 'directory' is also just a more or >> less apt metaphor > > You missed the point: directory is not a metaphor at all, it is a > precise term for what is actually being talked about. I beg to differ. I think you are confusing the

Re: [OFFTOPIC] On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread tomas
On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 11:33:55AM -0400, Stefan Monnier wrote: > > Regarding Tomas' assertion, I'm not sure I buy into the argument > > regarding dumbing-down [...] > I guess in a sense what's going on here is that these words act as kinds > of "dog whistle". I don't think the argument that

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread tomas
On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 03:46:38PM +0100, Loris Bennett wrote: > Nicolas George writes: > > > to...@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): > >> The other is related: folder has become the culture of those > >> who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business > >> model is based on keeping you

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread Curt
On 2023-11-03, Nicolas George wrote: > to...@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): >> The other is related: folder has become the culture of those >> who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business >> model is based on keeping you dumb. > > Ear, ear! https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hear,_hear

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread gene heskett
On 11/3/23 11:17, Nicolas George wrote: Loris Bennett (12023-11-03): If I think of the main non-digital directory I have dealt with in my life it was a telephone directory. That also did not contain further directories within itself. On the other hand, scholarly articles usually contain a

Re: [OFFTOPIC] On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread Stefan Monnier
> Regarding Tomas' assertion, I'm not sure I buy into the argument > regarding dumbing-down. I am presume it does go on, but I don't really > think that one is stepping on to Big Tech's slippery slope to stupidity > by calling a 'directory' a 'folder' any more one would be by calling a > pointing

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread Nicolas George
Loris Bennett (12023-11-03): > If I think of the main non-digital directory I have dealt with in my > life it was a telephone directory. That also did not contain further > directories within itself. On the other hand, scholarly articles usually contain a bibliography section, i.e. a directory

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread Loris Bennett
Nicolas George writes: > to...@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): >> The other is related: folder has become the culture of those >> who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business >> model is based on keeping you dumb. > > Ear, ear! > > Also, that metaphor is easy, but it is very shaky.

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread tomas
On Fri, Nov 03, 2023 at 08:46:36AM +0100, Nicolas George wrote: > to...@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): > > The other is related: folder has become the culture of those > > who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business > > model is based on keeping you dumb. > > Ear, ear! > > Also,

Re: On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-03 Thread Nicolas George
to...@tuxteam.de (12023-11-03): > The other is related: folder has become the culture of those > who want to "sell you knowledge", i.e. of those whose business > model is based on keeping you dumb. Ear, ear! Also, that metaphor is easy, but it is very shaky. In the physical world, I have

On folders vs. directories and history [was: how to compare...]

2023-11-02 Thread tomas
On Thu, Nov 02, 2023 at 11:17:01PM -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote: > On Thu, Nov 02, 2023 at 12:16:54PM -0500, John Hasler wrote: > > This was in the 1970s when the graphical UI was being invented. The > > idea was that the screen was to look like an actual desktop which might > > have actual file